Samsung Heavy Holds Signing Ceremony for $2.9 Billion Delfin FLNG

Samsung Heavy Industries (010140.KS) held a signing ceremony in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday to formalize the launch of construction of the first Delfin floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) production facility and to mark the completion of the first final investment decision (FID) for an offshore FLNG project in U.S. history, the company said Wednesday. Samsung Heavy Industries had earlier disclosed that it signed a main FLNG contract worth $2.9 billion (about 4.3 trillion won).

The signing ceremony is expected to serve as a signal that offshore FLNG projects in the United States are entering full-scale expansion. Samsung Heavy Industries is also conducting contract negotiations for units 2 and 3, which Delfin is pursuing sequentially as the orderer, raising the likelihood of additional orders going forward.

The event drew a large gathering of representatives from leading global asset managers and global shipping and energy companies, including Samsung Heavy Industries Vice Chairman Choi Sung-an, Delfin Midstream CEO Dudley Poston, Talisman Group CEO Jason Kalisman, BlackRock Global Infrastructure Partner James Berner, MOL Chairman Takeshi Hashimoto, and Vitol LNG Americas head Carlos Wheelock. Government officials from both countries also attended, underscoring the importance of energy cooperation between Korea and the United States, including U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Assistant Secretary Kyle Haustveit, U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD) Administrator Steve Carmel, and Korean Ambassador to the United States Kang Kyung-wha.

"At the Delfin FLNG signing ceremony, global tier partners came together and showed full confidence in Samsung Heavy Industries' FLNG technological capabilities and project execution ability," Samsung Heavy Industries Vice Chairman Choi Sung-an said. "We will prove our capabilities with world-class quality and thorough adherence to delivery schedules."